title explained

Onward and upward! something that you say in order to encourage someone to forget an unpleasant experience or failure and to think about the future instead and move forward.

My e-mail: jjmiller6213@comcast.net

Monday, June 6, 2016

The Past. The Present. The Future?

The future?  I don't even think about it or worry about it anymore, at least, not like I used to.

I am too busy in the present.

The present, which right now, has me deeply searching the mysteries of the past.
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I finished up a genealogy I started first of April.  I was so pleased with the way the book turned out.  I put it in a printing paper box, stuffed paper all around it and packed it into a Flat Rate Medium box to mail.  I held that box, hugged up tight to my heart and sent it off with love.

My client received it and sent me the nicest e-mail to tell me how much she liked it.  That e-mail meant the world to me.  She had helped me so much with information and photos of her ancestor's.  Then I delved and dug deep to find maps of the areas where her ancestor's came from and any stories I could find about the area and the places where her ancestor's worked and lived.  

I really love doing genealogies for people.  At times, in my searches, I have come upon discoveries that have taken my breath away.  To keep going up and up through the generations until I reach up into the early 1000's, is thrilling to me.  Just think what our ancestor's went through to make a life.  Many died fairly young...many wives died in child birth...many father's died only a few months after their last child was born.  Then, the ones that came across that big ocean to this new world to make a new life.  How frightening that must have been.  Glad we are that they did or we, ourselves, would have ended up living under persecution or in war-torn countries.

There is such a history to the background of our easy, sometimes mundane lives.  Maybe that is why I love genealogy.  I love history and people's biographies and documentaries.  To open that all up for someone and perhaps prove to them that, they are related to royalty or warriors or even, just plain, ordinary, hard working people like all my farmer ancestors.

Here I am, late in life and feel like I have found my calling!  

and now, onto climbing up the branches of the next family tree!
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How about this present day marvel?  I do not remember planting this Iris.  

I have my peach colored "Momma Iris"
and I have purple Iris.  Was there some sort of hanky-panky, last fall or under the cover of snow, that caused this beauty to emerge?








Most years, I buy Hot Pink, Purple and Chartreuse plants for my pots.  This year I decided to go with yellow, purple, white and chartreuse.  I don't know if I like it or not.  Now enough POP of color, but the pots will fill in and....it is as it is.  



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The dreaded dental visit that I have put off since March.  That yearly exam that includes: full mouth x-rays, deep cleaning, the periodontal check, where the hygienist pokes that pointy thing deep around each tooth to check the pockets and how much the gums have receded, and the final check, when the dentist comes in and checks for oral cancers, nodules in my neck and does her darndest to search for teeny-tiny cavities.  I'm glad it's over.  An hour and 15 minutes in that chair that caused my neck to hurt and the pain shooting into my shoulder and the left front part of my chest.    Back in four months for just a regular cleaning, which I won't put off!

11 comments:

  1. Your flowers are gorgeous just as they are! And I agree about the dentist. It's a chore but it must be done. xoxo

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  2. Wait until you hear about my dog's dental appointment...makes yours look like a piece of cake. LOL

    I'm glad you found your calling. I don't think I'd like doing genealogy for other people. I liked doing my own, though. I have no clue how you figure out how to charge for something like that because it's so time intensive. Do you also send a CD or flash drive of the family info along with a hard copy so they can share it with others? I'm a firm believer that family history should be shared so at least a few copies make through a couple of generations in the future.

    Your porch looks great.

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  3. I'm glad you love doing genealogy so much. I should have you do mine seeing as I just met a distant cousin a few months ago! Your porch looks warm and inviting!

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  4. Your little piece of paradise is so inviting! No wonder the neighbors all stop by. I wish I could be more interested in gardening. I love having lush green plants ... but don't put in the time to make this place amazing. Weeding, fertilizing, irrigation, pruning, raking and blowing, preventing pest takeover ...

    Yet I am so glad you also make time for blogging!!! Love reading your life!!

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  5. I always love seeing your porch every spring/summer. You have such a green thumb, Judy.

    xoxo

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  6. Genealogy work is your gift to us. And your writing, and your flowers, and your porch. So glad to share this corner of life with you!

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  7. Your genealogy work sounds fascinating. I get intrigued, myself, although I don't think I'd want to do it for others. I am interested in how your produced the book you sent to your client. What format or program do you use?

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    1. I have a subscription to ancestry.com (which I have to pay for) to do part of the research. I also use Google and other search engines, then I put all the information into a Family Tree Maker software. Then I arrange it into a story about each person, with facts I have found or old newspaper accounts, obituaries, photos, grave markers, a list of their children. Just the direct ancestor's of my clients. I print out the family group, which shows all the children, but wouldn't go into who each child married--only the direct ancestor. Then I make an excel spreadsheet with the pedigree--generation after generation.Then after I have it all together in Word, I print it out myself with a new color/black inkjet, so I can make sure the pages are correct, then take it to the print shop where they put on a clear cover and sturdy back, punch it and put in a nice heavy coil for the spine. The one I am working on now, I am into 60 hours.

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    3. I love your porch and flowers kiddo... very nice. I am so glad you found this new hobby of finding old souls... I hope you are getting paid for doing that because that is a lot of work and expensive when printing it all out .. shipping etc. Maybe you should just put it on a CD or a drive which is inexpensive and let them do what they want with it. Just a thought.

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    4. Joanie--the least expensive part is the printing and having the printing place make it into a book. The hours of research is what takes so much time.

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